Vermilion Flycatcher
by Mato-Gin
Summary: First times are always interesting, aren't they? First time leaving Dressrosa, first time wandering from Doffy. Law finally finds his first friend and their first pet - a Vermilion Flycatcher. The red bird becomes a symbol of their friendship, and Kidd's smile is heartwarming, all that Law becomes to ever want. But sometimes, we can never have it all. "I wish we can stay together."
1. Vermilion Flycatcher

**A/N: **I've always wanted a kid Law and Kidd. I already have a few chapters up, and I wanted to post already. Quite impatient, I am. Haha.

**Summary: **Just the time when Law first visits South Blue.

* * *

**~Vermilion Flycatcher~**

**Chapter One - Hey, you**

* * *

_"Doffy, I want to go see the real world. I don't like being holed up here in Dressrosa."_

_It had come abruptly as soon as the flamingo came back from one of his trips away from home in their paradise island. The exotic scent of the sea and wind mixed with the sweet scent of spice and foreign aromas still lingered heavily in his pink coat and the medical prodigy could distinctly smell it._

_Law gave an insinuating pout as he stared at the gigantic man. Although he was young and still had some growing to do, there was no doubt in plainly seeing that the blonde easily towered over the common man._

_Doflamingo spread himself relaxingly into his meridian chuckling slightly as he studied the young boy eagerly standing before him. Behind his shaded glasses, he could see through Law's calm demeanor that he more than wanted to set sail, his determined bright eyes and studious dark rims that cupped his dark orbs harshly betrayed him entirely._

_"Fufufufu," he let his laugh be heard. Perhaps the boy was ready to leave his little cage and see the rest of the sky for himself. It would be more fun to see him grow, and maybe get hurt in the process, so he could finally see Law's full potential rather than keep him safe here like unpolished treasure. He had been waiting for this moment for Law to finally ask after all, it was only a matter of time till the impending question finally came._

_He beckoned for the boy to come and Law willingly did so before Doflamingo forced him to. He wrapped his arms around the young boy and pulled him in closer between his lap, his large hands feeling the short strands of soft black hair._

_"We're you that lonely without me?" he teased but it didn't get a rise out of the teen who was used to it. Instead, he buried his face deeper into Doflamingo's pink feathers. "I'll take you on my next trip then, and have Vergo prepare your things. Maybe we'll see how well we can put your medical skills into good use."_

_His laugh reverberated deep in his chest, and the boy clutched his fingers digging deeper in his coat as there was the foreshadowing of something brutal to come in Law's release into the sea. Would his first time setting out be bloody? Filled with gore? The medical prodigy had those small, exciting thoughts fill up his brain. Though he couldn't see it, he could tell that Doflamingo had lit up into a smile, like he always did, and the blonde's hand began to gently rub against the back of his head. It was a soft touch that Law didn't know what to make out of, but he'd always react indifferently always._

_Maybe he was to young understand the significance of such affection. Everyone had called him cold or callous, or maybe it was just because he was too inexperienced to fully appreciate such gestures._

_Appreciate? Law held in a breath that wanted to come out from him for actually letting that word cross into his mind. Appreciate - there were some things he did, and some things that he didn't. Everything was separated into two different categories, and that included people and their little gestures. Though that was about to change. Law was oblivious to that happening once he sailed out to sea._

_Out to South Blue where he would be more confused than ever. Things weren't that simple, and he'd learn about remorse and the state of tormenting confliction. He'd miss the perks of ever having the feeling of appreciation._

* * *

Law wandered the field aimlessly going nowhere just to leave the luxury house they were staying in on the island. He needed a break, and the colorful grass and open space was a refreshing contrast to the stale aired underground room that he been spending hours cooped up in. He took a breath of the chilly spring air, the scent of pollen marking the transition of winter's last traces and erasing it completely to open up the height of the season of bloom. He let the breath travel and cool his veins and let it out in neither satisfaction, contentment, or dislike; thoughts of the rather explicit events from just hours ago occupying his tired mind.

Just like he predicted, his premonitions of blood became fulfilled and multiple bodies were brought in the basement of the Donquixote luxury home in an island deep in South Blue where no one could hear their victim's screams. Law finally knew why the flamingo chose South Blue as his next destination. It was the best out of the four Blues that provided a good stock of supply of agonized voices, music made by the flamingo's turned toys, as the area was known for being filled with hefty criminals that no one would miss.

It had been two months since they've came to this part of the hemisphere and Law had started mutilating bodies day in and day out. Honestly, he was getting a little worn out. The little experiment was to cure Doflamingo's curiosity of wanting to find just how far he could push a human just before they passed to the brink of death or before they croaked for information. Though Law would be lying if he were to say that he wasn't intrigued after slicing up a few practice bodies. To learn what substance flowed from where to where first hand, to see how organs and human tissue actually looked like in real flesh compared to the ones he saw in books, to see how long a man could stand before he died and gave up from overwhelming pain, to see how far he could cut without killing, it was all so fascinating and exhilarating. His thirsty mind for knowledge was sickeningly being fed. Not like he ever thought about cutting people up this way before though. A bit of his humanity repulsed him at what the flamingo has been making him do. He had always thought that his medical skills could only help living things get better, to fix what had gone amiss in a functioning body, but he was naive and Doflamingo gave him interesting new ideas about that.

The image of a sinewy body with its veins hanging out from a severed leg made Law shudder. So much blood, so much of the blackened red liquid pooling at the concrete floor just to stain it, so much of the overpowering scent of iron that invaded his nose…. and so much medical knowledge he would have taken years to have learned through a book he had to find or a surgery gone wrong acquired in the matter of a few months. He would have had gone through a war just to see the type of injuries he had inflicted on those men back at the basement if he hadn't had the luxurious opportunity to have seen it here. In the comfort of peace and the absence of any special attachments to those he had hurt, it was wealth Doflamingo gave him.

Under the shade of his white fluffy cap, Law's eyes grew darker. The twistedly different way of thinking Doflamingo had, it was affecting his views and sight of what he wanted to achieve in pursuing, and it was forthcoming. There was a weight constricting Law's chest as he knew his process of thinking was developing much like Doflamingo's, but he wouldn't let that happen. No. Of course he wouldn't.

But wasn't this what he wanted? To accompany the blonde in his escapades whenever he left Law mysteriously wondering what it would be like to go with him?

Law let out another breath as he hiked up a hill to where more of the trees grew. He unconsciously rubbed his right arm that Doflamingo had almost broken when he refused to use his fruit ability to cut a woman up. Men, he could handle, but women and children were something new. It didn't hurt as much anymore, but he could still feel the tingle of his flesh constricting, his muscles failing to do anything.

His black boot let loose some dirt as he made it up the upslope, and he let his eyes take in the open space of nature. There was no clear trail for him to follow as he had strayed from the main path hours ago, and he continued on deeper into the forest in no clear direction but forward as he tried to get his head clear. He walked in silence, and the only sounds were the quiet leaves rustling in their lush green that grew thickly atop the trees' branches. The sun's bright yellow light that coated every inch the very ground he walked on seemed to match his mellow walk, and he was able to peacefully make it through the other side of the forest without a single disturbance. But as he got closer to the sea, the smell of salt infiltrating his senses, he heard a high pitched chirping of a bird crying for help.

Law stopped in his tracks turning his head and followed the cries through a thick wall of bushes. He pushed the itchy shrubbery aside cutting through, and found not a lone bird, but a red headed kid sitting on the grass fiddling with the victimized baby chick. Law shifted his eyes and spotted a broken nest by the roots of a nearby tree.

"Son of a-!" the kid hissed snapping his hand back. "How do you even have a strong enough beak to bite me?"

He growled at the nestling cradled at the palm of his left hand making faces and sucked on his cut finger.

Law deafened his footsteps as he stepped out from the bush and quietly crept closer to take a better look taking careful precaution for the redhead to not notice him. Despite the boy's anger, he still held the baby bird gently and resumed to trying to wrap a bandage around the nestling's body. The bird pulled its head up and started to chirp vehemently at its wound being touched and fluffed its premature red feathers. Law craned his neck behind the redhead inspecting the bird's damage, and a blotch of crimmson bled through the small roll of white bandage the kid was using. With unskilled hands, the boy went around the bird trapping one wing under the white roll, and Law's lips pulled down to a frown.

"You shouldn't wrap it like that," he blurted out not impressed with the kid's bandaging skills.

The boy widened his eyes and jumped. He drew away from Law's breath against his ear and scrambled a few feet away to face him, bird encased protectively in the shell of both of his hands.

"Who the hell are _you_?!" he dogged Law up and down barring his teeth. His body tensed in gaurd, eyes showing a twinkle of scarlet in his golden red eyes as the boy's anger rose from being sneaked up on.

Law looked at him nonplussed as he acted without thinking, but retrieved himself quickly.

"I was just strolling by, and I heard a bird crying. I wanted to come by and help," he explained.

The boy glared at him warily, but his shoulders relaxed down and he opened up his cupped hands encasing the baby bird.

"Here," Law held out his hand. "You're suffocating it. Birds have fragile bones because they're hollow and you're squishing it."

The boy looked at him quizzically not knowing what he was talking about and looked back down at the nestling, its one free wing flapping in pain while its pair was held down. He hesitated to move towards Law, and Law took it upon himself to be the one to come over and crouch down to the ground and gently take the nestling from the boy's hands. Lightly, he began to undo the wrap he made around the baby chick and freed its crippled wing. He rewrapped the bandaged expertly around the bird's body to stop the bleeding and inspected around for any other injuries. The one that was trapped under the bandages turned out to broken, and it had a few other scratches here and there that needed to be disinfected.

All the meanwhile he was doing this, the redheaded boy stared him awed by how fast and neatly he had tied the bandages.

"How did you do that?" he asked mystified.

"What?" Law cocked a brow.

"Wrap the bandage so neatly," he lifted his golden red eyes up at Law, as if his flaming red hair wasn't an interesting color enough. "Whenever Killer does that for me, it always comes falling off."

"Killer?" Law repeated the unusual name.

"Some guy I know," the boy clarified, a hint of brotherly sentiment laced in his answer.

Law studied the boy over and noticed a few scars scattered across his body, a particularly noticeable one marring his left shoulder that most likely came from getting scratched by a branch. A few bandaids covered other parts of his exposed skin as his arms were bare from a loose white tank top, his legs uncovered by his shorts save for a white roll of bandage tied around his right calf. And just as the boy said, the bandage was improperly tied so it was sagging.

"What happened here?" Law placed the nestling on his lap and reached over to pull the wrap tighter. He undid the crappily made knot and set to rewrapping the damaged leg. "Your friend?"

"No, I did that one." The kid didn't know whether to let Law touch him, a stranger he just met, but Law wouldn't let him say a single form of protest as he went ahead and firmly reknotted the bandage without permission. "I fell from the tree when I was saving that baby bird. There was another jerk bird that wouldn't leave it alone so I climbed up there to make it go away and punched it. Stupid bird." The kid muttered. "If I ever see it again, I'll have it for dinner."

Law let out a noncommittal hum thinking that was a stupid thing to do.

"You should've left it alone," he looked up and saw a trail of blood across the boy's cheek and took out a handkerchief to wipe it away.

The kid winced. "How could I?! Then that shit bird would've eaten the baby bird alive!"

"Let nature have its way. Better dead than living the rest of its life a cripple. It's left wing is broken, and it might not heal properly since the bones are still setting in. If it won't be able to fly, it'll fall prey to other animals unable to flee or protect itself, and starve a slow agonizing death in the process as it won't be able to hunt. It would've been better to die now rather than to shamefully die later."

"The hell would you say that?!" the boy swatted his hand away clearly offended. "And what do you know?! It can still heal! I'll just take care of it!"

The dark haired teen sighed at the kid's profanity. The boy looked younger than him too, but he was able to spit out four letter curse words like it was a normal thing.

"I've studied a bird's anatomy before. I know how their bodies work," his flow of words sounded pessimistic, partly due to the torture he had to witness just a few hours ago. Though he knew the chances of the nestling perfectly recovering, Law didn't want to admonish the type of foolish behavior the kid was sporting in playing hero. There are no real heros in real life.

A defiant frown framed the redhead's face and he leaned over to grab the nestling from his lap, but Law was quick enough to scoop the baby bird away from his grasp.

"I don't care if you're a bird scientist or whatever, just give me back my bird!" he yelled.

Law looked back at him without expression, a contrast to the boy's expressive face, as he slipped out a monotone, "No."

"The hell?! You're just going to leave it out to die!"

Law remained unmoving refusing to give it back and the redhead dove in after him. He merely rolled to the side to avoid the tackle and the boy's chin met the floor. He slid across the dirt eating a few blades of grass as the older teen ignored his loud fall.

"I never said that I'd let it die," Law got up and patted the dirt away from his pants. "I just said it might grow up to be a cripple. Like I told you, I've studied the anatomy of birds before. I'd know how to take care of it better than you."

The redhead pushed himself up from the grass spitting out the green leaves and looked to him confused. "Huh? But you said-"

"It's wing is bent and I need to fix that. I probably need to take him home," Law interrupted him and squatted down to where the boy still lay. "The nest is already broken," he motioned to the fallen mess of twigs beside the tree they were under, "and even if its parents do come, they'll probably abandon it and let it die. There's no use in letting a crippled nestling live so we have to take care of its wing first before we leave it here by itself."

The kid took a moment to blink as Law just did a total one eighty to him. First, he was telling him to let the bird die, then he was telling him that he'd take care of it? What did he really want to do?

"What? Are you a doctor or something?" he glared up at Law.

The answer to that question came out easily. "Something like that. I'm studying to be one."

Law held out his handkerchief again and wiped the dirt on the smaller boy's face.

"You can keep this," he told him and handed the boy the cloth after all the dirt was gone.

The kid took it unsurely in his hands as he still didn't know what to say. Law noticed the still bleeding finger that the nestling pecked at as the redhead curled his fingers into the cloth, and he took the boy's hand into his own. He didn't know how the bird was able to do it, but a healthy stream of red ran down the boy's fingers and Law put the finger into his mouth.

"H-hey! What the hell are you doing?!" the boy shouted getting flustered.

A heat built up across the younger's cheeks as Law swirled his tongue around the cut and spitted out the blood mixed saliva.

"I don't have anything to clean it with so spit will have to do," he said with a straight face. "Even a small cut like this can be infected."

The boy looked as if he's just violated him, the heat too noticeable against his pale skin. Law took out a band aid from his from his pocket and wrapped it around the cut of his finger. Lucky for the boy that he was actually caring one. The redhead pulled his hand back once he was done and rubbed against the adhesive.

"Thanks," he muttered.

Law was about to wave him off when someone shouted as soon as he opened his mouth. Both boys' head jerked to the call as they hear a person yelling not too far off.

"Kid! Hey, Kid! Where are you?!"

It was timbre of a deep voice, but not old enough to be an adult. It was a voice mature enough to be around Law's age, but definitely somewhere around his teens. Another voice of around the same pitch joined the first calling "kid," and the red headed boy jerked and jumped up to his feet.

"Shit. I forgot," he muttered. The rest of his sentence was lost under his breath. Something about meeting up with someone and going to the main square of the city.

Law looked up at the boy curiously and asked. "Friends of yours?"

"Yeah," his eyes went to Law then back to the direction of voices as they called out again. "I gotta go," he shoved Law's handkerchief in his pockets and shifted up the goggles on his forehead ready to leave, but he hesitated. He looked back at Law frowning. "You'll take care of the bird, right?" He was unsure whether to trust Law or not. But there was hoping.

Law gave him a nod and the boy smirked.

"My name's Kid by the way," he smiled. "Eustass Kid."

"Trafalgar Law," Law said likewise.

"'I'll definitely see you back here then, Trafalgar?"

The dark haired teen gave another nod. Kid gave a grin for his goodbye and went off running into the bushes.

Law watched him go and stayed in his spot long enough to hear Kid yell back to the group that was calling for him.

"I'm right here!" the boy shouted.

There were murmurings that he couldn't quite make out, and the voices slowly got farther and farther. When rustling of footsteps and the echoes of their voices completely disappeared, the dark haired teen got up, nestling in hand and chirping softly, and Law went on his silent way back to the direction he came to the opposite way of the shore.

On his way back, his trek to Doflamingo's mansion somehow seemed too short, the distance from the forest and down the hill too quick. He didn't want to go back yet, but the sun was starting to set, and he knew that if he stayed out too long, Vergo would come looking for him. He gritted his teeth thinking about the abusive man. He should really ease up. It wasn't as if he was running away or anything, the sadistic brute. If only he could get through the man's haki and cut him up, and Law was seriously looking forward to the day when he would be able to, then he'd return the beatings ten times over. And speaking of Vergo…

Law could make out the muscular man's form standing by the entrance as he neared their luxury home. He could be easily identified by his white trench coat, and he was standing stiffly waiting for Law to come back. The dark haired teen grimaced and stuffed his hands in his hoodie pocket trying to hide the baby chick.

"Law," the man said his name as he turned to face him. Vergo was clearly glaring at him beneath those darkened shades. "You're lucky you came back at this time. One more minute, and I would have gone out to look for you."

And by "look," he meant forcibly drag back Law kicking and screaming by his hair. By how many times the man did it, Law figured that Vergo actually liked it that way. The teen gave a crooked smile to purposely piss the man off and walked past him to the door. He wouldn't be doing that today. Law would've added to say something smart back at the muscular man, but he wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible to get the baby bird into his room.

Luckily, he was able to evade anyone else in hallways and headed straight to the second floor.

* * *

What was he going to do with the baby bird? Law looked down at the sleeping nestling that he had put in a box stuffed with grass and twigs he managed to garner from outside. He had put a brace to straighten its broken wing and rubbed a salve against its open cuts. It should heal in a few weeks, but how was he going to hide it for that long? Especially from Doflamingo or the cleaning maids that came into his room. And sure, it was quiet now because it was sleeping, but how about when it starts chirping once it wakes up? And what to feed it….

Law lowered his eyes as he sat on his bed staring at the box in front of him. He was beginning to realize just how much of a trouble it was to take care of the little bird, and questioned why he even said that he'd take care of it. Maybe he'll just go back to that spot in the forest again tomorrow so he could give it to that red headed kid. He definitely couldn't take care of it for long.

A slight shiver shook the nestling's feathers, and Law pushed a few more grass around it to keep it warm. Based on the color of its red and grey feathers, Law had deduced that it was a Vermilion Flycatcher, a bird distinct from the South. The shade of red reminded him a lot of the color of Kid's hair, and Law got up to hide the box in his closet. It was nice to see another kid around his age. He hadn't seen one in quite a while. It felt like ages ago, and he began to wonder when was the last time he had.

* * *

It had been a few days since he had kept the bird, and its wing was healing up nicely. It had gone from crying in its chirp to happily singing as it became healthy enough to walk around in Law's room and jump around. It would occasionally flap its wings to stimulate flight even though it couldn't yet, but he knew that it would be able to some day. The way the bird was moving, it was heading to a fast recovery.

Law smiled cupping the nestling in his hands as he picked it up from the box, and it tilted its head blinking as it stared at him. He wanted to show Kid how good the bird's injuries were healing, how good its progress was going in just a short amount of time, and hiked to the spot where they met in the forest almost everyday hoping to see him. He wanted to see the boy's smiling face once he saw the healthy bird. It would be able to fly, he wanted to say. To his disappointment though, the boy was never there and it irritated him on the way back home.

The bird flapped its wings noticing Law's mood and the teen drew up a smile again. He always did have a weakness for fluffy things.

A thump of footsteps sounded down Law's hallway, and he quickly placed the nestling back in its box and stuffed it back in his closet again. When the door opened, Law was calmly on his bed reading a book about diseases as if he wasn't just holding a baby bird. Nothing was amiss.

"He wants to see you," Vergo came in going straight to business.

Law closed his book setting aside and looked up. Through the surface, he looked bored, but underneath his heart was beating, scared that he was going to get caught if he hadn't heard the footsteps in time. He better pay close attention next time to save him from another close call. He languidly hopped out of bed and followed Vergo outside to where Doflamingo was waiting for him out in the driveway infront of a black car.

"There you are," the blonde smiled his signature smile. "How about we go shopping? I haven't taken you out in a while, hmn?"

The car door was already for Law to get in, the question just for manners to make Law feel better when he actually didn't have a choice. The boy nodded and got in, Doflamingo following after. The blonde stretched his arms behind Law's head once they were seated, his body taking up a whole row of one side of the long car due to his tall lanky body.

Law didn't talk much in the car ride as they headed to the markets of the city, and neither did he make much conversation when they walked around the the booths and stands. He walked behind Doflamingo silently following him noticing all the exotic things hanging at the mini-stores, nothing in particular catching his eye until he saw a stand filled with jars of small beetles. He immediately thought of the Flycatcher back home and got the urge to buy one. Law had been feeding the baby bird some insects he caught around the vicinity of Doflamingo's estate, but it was weird to be always bringing bugs home. If he asked to buy a jar of beetles though, it would arise even more suspicion of why he would want to take a bottle of insects home. After a second, Law noticed that he had stopped walking and snapped out of his stare. He quickly hurried to catch up to Doflamingo and forgot about the jar of beetles.

* * *

It had been a week now, exactly seven days since he had taken home the baby bird, and Doflamingo had started to notice Law going out for morning walks.

"I need to exercise," was his lame excuse to go up to the knoll where he met Eustass Kid.

Law was getting antsy that Kid kept being a no show and even brought the baby bird with him in his pockets just incase the boy would show up. A smirk played on the blonde's face as he stared at Law, something going in his dark mind as the boy waited for permission to leave. Before he could go though, the man wrapped a yellow scarf around his neck with black spots covering the ends to protect him from the winter-spring cold.

"Don't catch a cold," Doflamingo smiled. "I don't want you getting sick. But if you do, then maybe you won't leave so much. Fufufu. Maybe I should chain you up so I don't have to worry."

Doflamingo was telling him that he didn't like his continuous disappearance every morning. It was a warning. His long fingers felt cold against Law's neck as he fixed the scarf on the teen. He was seriously contemplating about getting some sea stone handcuffs, and Law knew that. Whatever the flamingo said he'd do, he'd do. Before their conversation got any further, Law nodded saying that he'd be back soon and left the living room. He passed by Vergo in the hallway who only gave him a stalking look as they crossed each other, and he tried to act calm and ignore him.

He walked briskly out the mansion and into the trail that led to the forest and went through the invisible forest path that he'd been following faster than he usually did. He didn't know why he was acting so hastily, but he felt the need to get away from the house, he just needed to. He walked with hands in his pockets and was so concentrated in getting to that one tree in the forest near the sea shore that he almost forgot that the nestling was still in his pockets. He only remembered when he finally got to his destination.

"There you are! I've been waiting for you!"

Law looked up to see Kid finally here and watched him as he jumped down from the tree where the bird had originally fallen. He couldn't tell if the boy's leg was healed as he wore a pair of black pants this time, but he seemed to land fine on his feet.

"Where'd you been? I even had enough time to built back the nest," the boy shook his head to free his hair from leaves. The dark haired teen lifted his head up above to where the boy had fallen from and could see a rebuilt cradle of meshed twigs and grass sitting upon a high branch.

"I should ask you the same thing," Law huffed. "I've been coming here everyday in the morning for the past week, but you were never here."

"Well, I've been coming here every night but you were never here," the kid shot back.

Both of them looked at each other as they realized they never agreed on a set time when they'd meet. Law shook his head and took out the baby bird from his pocket finally letting it breathe and to show Eustass.

"Hey! It finally got better," he smiled seeing the bird he saved for the first time again.

He let the redhead hold the Flycatcher as he transferred the nestling to his hands, and Law smiled watching Kid grin. And Law was right; as the younger teen held the baby bird close to his face, he could see that they shared the same shade of red on the bird's feathers and Kid's hair. The boy noticed the brace the bird had on its left wing, and he held to inspect it gently.

"How long till we can remove this?" he asked.

"Probably about another week. After that, it'll be fine," Law answered.

"So you'll be keeping it for several more days?"

The older teen raised his brows at that.

"Actually, I was hoping you'd be able to take care of it now. I fulfilled my part of repairing its wing, so it's your turn. I've already kept it for an extended amount of days."

Kid looked hesitantly at the creature in his hands, and Law didn't like the look of it. He better not say he couldn't. Law couldn't keep hiding from Vergo who kept barging into his room at any given moment.

"I can't," he turned to Law.

"And why not?"

"Because," the bird hopped on Kid's hands and climbed its way up to his shoulder. "Where I live, if anyone sees that I've brought some type of animal home, we'd roast it for dinner."

The dark haired teen raised both brows at that. The threat he heard Kid make about making the bird who attacked the nestling for dinner was actually real. The redhead looked at the older boy sullenly, and pretty soon, both the bird and Kid were looking at Law for his decision.

He heaved out a sigh giving in. The red duo gaze was definitely formidable.

"Fine," Law caved.

Kid lit up in a smile. "Thanks," he grinned. "Because I actually have a present for you,"

The redhead gave the little bird back and grabbed a drawstring bag that had been lying beside the trunk of the tree he had jumped from. He shoved his hand inside and drew up a small bag filled with worms. The older boy curled his lips in disgust.

"That looks gross," Law moved not wanting to take it though he already figured out that the present wasn't for him but for the nestling.

"It's food," Kid extended his arm moving the bag of slimming invertebrates closer to Law's face. "I dug for them all day yesterday for you."

Yes, it was all for him. Like Law really wanted a whole bag of slithering worms to keep.

Kid noticed the unpleasantness in his face as he took the bag from him.

"Thanks," the teen mumbled. At least he wouldn't have to go digging for food anytime soon. He didn't want to put in his pockets to carry around so he sat down on the ground beneath the tree and set the worms aside next to a root.

Kid followed suit and sat next to him giving a yawn. He stretched his arms and arching his back, and Law grew aware of the amount of dirt on his clothes.

"Did you sleep here?" he asked. It was either that or the kid had decided to roll in the grass before he came.

"Yeah," Kid answered in mid yawn. "I kept waiting for you last night that I fell asleep 'cuz I kept thinking that you would show up."

"Idiot. No one is awake at night," Law frowned.

"Well, no one is awake this early either," the boy yawned again and reached for the nestling that was on his lap.

The bird gave a high chirped and bit his hand.

"Ow!" Kid snapped his arm back. "Why do you keep biting me?!"

He hissed and sucked on the skin between his thumb and forefinger this time, a small stream of blood oozing out. Law couldn't help but laugh and softly grabbed the boy's injured hand.

"I only carry band aids for guys like you," he pulled another adhesive from his pocket and opened it to apply on the small wound.

Kid frowned like a petulant child. A soft chuckle escaped from him when he saw that he still wanted to hold the baby bird, but it only pressed deeper against his stomach to hide away from the glaring redhead.

"You need to ease up your face," Law petted the nestling. He picked it up gently and handed it over to Kid who was trying hard not to frown, but once the baby bird saw Kid's face, it began to fluff its feathers and chirped to get away from him. Law continued to land the nestling in Kid's hands anyway and it quieted.

As long as Law's hands were touching it, the baby bird seemed to be okay and was content in the redhead's palms. It shivered happily and became oblivious to the danger it was in, or thought it was never in.


	2. Kid-ya

**A/N: **Law's eyes are yellow in the anime, grey in the manga. I'm using yellow for story purposes here :P

* * *

**~Vermilion Flycatcher~**

**Chapter 2 - Kid-ya**

* * *

Two days later, the bird kept chirping incessantly in Law's room. It's voice began to sound loudly bright and early in the morning and the teen had to get up from his bed to open his closet to see what was wrong. Nothing was amiss, the bird still in its box, except that it was singing so energetically. Law tried to hush it as he picked it up, but it wouldn't stop. He put it back in its box and hurried to get himself dressed and wash up in the bathroom before coming back to the bird and stuffing it in his hoodie. He grabbed his yellow scarf and headed out.

It was four A.M. and the light was still cloudy and grey, the morning mist still thickly hovering above the ground, but the nestling seemed to think it was the best time of the day to vocalize its little heart out. Law was able to sneak out the mansion without getting caught; that was all the mist was good over to be used as a cover. He briskly began his trek through the forest with the bird singing all the way, and he tried his best to get as far away from the mansion premises as far as possible so no one would hear and wake up.

The bird was probably hungry, but he didn't stop to feed it until he came by the tree from where they found it. The spot looked just like any others, tall grass covering the ground, the tree itself was as brown and tall as the average trees surrounded by it, and the only indication that it was the right spot was a ring of violet crocus flowers, the flowers that dawned the coming of spring, which surrounded the tree with a few snippets of striped squills in the mix. One stem of light blue squill sprouted near the tree's roots and Law made himself comfortable next to it.

He had actually taken the bag of worms Kid gave him and he was down to his last one. There actually weren't a lot to begin with and he was down to his last one. He took it out from his pocket and picked out the remaining worm, the thing squirming between his fingers. The nestling chirped happily upon seeing it, and in a matter of seconds, Law cut it up into tiny palatable pieces.

The Flycatcher gulped each and every piece, and Law watched it contently. It was still too early in the morning and he let his head lean back against the bark of the tree. His eyes closed from the heaviness and he breathed in the wet air freshening his lungs. The bird was moving in his lap as it fed and he concentrated on its chirping.

The darkness of the forest, the dampness of the grass from the morning dew, Law let it all in and he soon lost hours into seconds.

An intense light disrupted his sleep, and Law woke up to see a brightened scenery of the forest and a picture of Kid sitting in front of him crossed legged as he held up two sticks of meat that he was trying to keep away from the baby bird. He held his his arms and apart as the Flycatcher hopped around near his legs on the ground looking up at him wanting and curious of the food. He turned his head when he heard Law stir, a crooked smile forming on his face.

"Hey, sleepy head. Sleep much?"

The older boy cleared his throat in a deep rasp. He rubbed his eyes with the bone of his palms trying to get used to the amount of light infiltrating his senses.

"I told you no one comes this early," he heard Kid say.

Law rubbed his cheeks feeling the forest dirt coating his face, the urge of wanting to wash his face coming up.

"I didn't come here for you," he grumbled a little grumpy from just waking. The stiffness of not moving for hours in a hardened position didn't help any. "The bird woke me up early."

The nestling chirped in response and Kid laughed a little. The older boy wasn't that happy though as he closed his eyes and rubbed his stiff shoulders.

"Here, I have something for you," he told Law to brighten him up.

"What? Another bag of worms?"

"No. This."

Law opened his eyes again and the redheaded boy was holding out one of the sticks towards him.

"What is this?"

Law wasn't in the mood for another present. He looked at the stick not knowing what sort of meat was pierced on it. It was something light brown, the skin a nice dark with some black spots where the fire had hit it strongly when it was being cooked.

"It's the bird I said I'll have for dinner. I told you I'll find that bird who attacked the nest," Kid took a bite out of his own stick.

The Flycatcher chirped energetically and fluffed its wings as if it was happy upon seeing Kid take its revenge in its place.

"I think I'll pass," Law held up his hand. "I'm not very hung- *grraarrr….."

Law's eyes widened in shock, his own stomach growling and interrupting him mid sentence. Kid stopped midway through his bite of meat, eyes darting up at him, and began laughing. A tint of pink rose up Law's cheeks and he frowned listening to his barking laughter.

Damn his own stomach for betraying him! The teen wrapped his arms around his belly holding it down.

"Just take it," Kid shoved the stick of meat at him.

He still had that evident curl to his lips, and Law meekly took it from his hands.

He smelled the flame and smoke from the meat, edges of the wood partly burnt, and he could tell it was barbequed or at least held over an open fire. Law held it to his lips and sunk his teeth in ripping out a good chunk. He ate it slowly letting the flavors swirl in his tongue and an odd, interesting seasoning tingled his taste buds. It actually tasted really good, the tang and spice mixing well with the meat.

Kid looked at him as he ate trying to see if he liked it, and Law pouted even more looking away. He heard the boy huff out a laughing breath, and the want of stabbing Kid with the very stick the meat was on grew strong just so he could wipe that grin off his face.

* * *

"What time do you usually wake up, Eustass-ya?"

It had been the next day and Law had returned to the area of where they had first met. It was now unspokenly acknowledged as their meeting spot, or simply, just their spot. They were sitting under the tree's shade and Kid was now playing with the baby chick, the nestling finally starting to take a liking to him after so long. But Law had came here early, hours ago in fact, and Kid hadn't showed until now. It was maybe eleven or so judging by how high the sun was in the sky, and he was a little peeved so he asked. Not knowing and just waiting until a person came wasn't a fun and thrilling game. It was really quite the opposite.

Kid didn't really look at him and continued to rub the baby bird with his finger.

"I dunno. I don't really check the time, but I'm awake by the time the shipbuilders are there by the shipyard."

"The shipyard?"

"By the shore," Kid looked at him now. "I live there so I always see them. Sometimes, I come down there and help out when I feel like it. They're usually there by seven, but I don't have a clock to make sure."

Law deepened his crouch and leaned forward to lean against his hand that stood with elbow on his knee. He let out a little throat of a response equivalent to an "okay."

He didn't know that Kid lived close to the shore, but that would explain why he smelled like the sea. The scent of open waters clung to him like his natural scent and by leaning closer, he could get a stronger whiff the smell.

"Where do _you_ live?" it was Kid's turn to ask.

Law took a moment to answer and pointed to a nonsense direction. "In the hills."

He didn't want to clarify since he didn't want anyone to know where he was living. If he told anyone just a vague idea, anyone who was native to the island would know that the highland hills is where Doflamingo built his villa like mansion. Kid didn't really seem to care though and took it in as a good enough answer.

* * *

It was odd. Law seemed to be looking forward for the next few days. Not that he slept very early, but he seemed to wake better this week and left for the forest pretty early in the morning. Not like he needed a lot of sleep anyway. He was just the type of person that didn't need more than five hours of sleep to function. Just give him that, and he'll work just as fine as a normal person who slept for eight.

He made it to their spot at around seven or eight depending on how fast he walked, the air still nice and cool. He sat down at his usual spot next to the lone stalk of striped squill and leaned back comfortably against the tree's trunk. He knew that Kid would come much later when the sun was more clearly out, but he liked the peace and quiet he was able to get when he waited for him. With the baby bird sleeping snugly on his lap, he opened up a book he had brought along and began to read from the last chapter he left off. It was a book about rare diseases and he had left off at the "s" chapter, the book being organized in alphabetical order of different cases.

Law sighed when he flipped the page that a picture of a hummingbird showed, a short paragraph of brief commentary below it, and an expanded list of information was written on the side and the next preceding pages. He must've misplaced his other book with this one when he was trying to find out more about Flycatchers. He closed the book and leaned back against the tree. He had nothing to do now, his reading time turning to such a waste, so he might as well sleep. Certainly, Doflamingo doesn't let him get much.

* * *

Kid had come late, and he had come groggy. They didn't talk much and the redhead looked pretty much too tired to keep a conversation. There was a slight darkness under his eyes and he had come from the bushes a bit lumbering so Law just let them exchange a few words and let Kid semi-collapse beside him.

Kid tried to pick up the baby chick on Law's lap and accidentally woke it. The nestling began to to flap its wings again against his touch, and it became impossible to take the bird away from Law. The older teen just smirked, a soft chuckle escaping his lips, and found it amusing watching Kid struggle. He opened up his book pretending to read and left the younger boy to wrestle for the baby bird's affection. Once again, Kid became nicked on his hand and Law lost another band aid.

It was a while until Law finally noticed when time had passed and Kid had stopped futilely trying to hold the nestling. He became immersed in the book even though it was just filled with random information about Aves and had blocked everything out, both the grumbling and the chirping. Law didn't feel the fondling fight against his thighs anymore either, just numbness running through his legs, so he lifted up his book to look down. There, instead of fighting, was Kid laying down, head on his lap, with eyes closed. Lack of energy still on his face, he lay still. His hands were spread to the side, open, no baby bird in his palms. Yellow eyes began scanning around looking for the nestling and almost missed it atop of Kid's head. It's red feathers, the same shade as the Southern boy's fiery locks, camouflaged into the mess of hair.

Law smiled to himself. Finally, the two were peaceful. Even though Kid looked partly dead, it was still a nice picture and easy to his ears. Kid had his goggles around his neck and his unexpectedly long hair was spread everywhere, some covering his face. An easy stream of breath came in and out of the boy's nose making a long strand of hair to flutter within every exhale. Law reached forward to draw it aside, and Kid woke. His eyes darted open with a jolt, his arm shooting out instinctively and knocking out Law's book out of his hand. The book fell right on Kid's face and he sat up in pain. With the sudden movements, the baby bird luckily just safely slid deeper into Law's legs and blinked its eyes from its sleep.

"Ow!" Kid keeled over pinching his nose where the edge of the book had hit. "What the hell?!" He grit his teeth and hissed. He turned around to glare at Law who was looking at him wide eyed. He hadn't expected him to wake and react so viciously. The reaction on his face made Kid calm down, but he remained moaning. "I thought you were going to attack me!"

"Why would I attack you?" Law frowned.

Kid continued to hiss and didn't answer. "Urgh…" he sniffed and wiped the bottom of his nose to see if there was any blood. His hand came out clean as there wasn't any, and he stopped hissing all together.

He looked around looking for the cursed object that hit him, and Kid found the book laying on the floor spread open. His brows furrowed in contempt and dragged the thing closer. He tilted his head when he saw a picture of a pink bird perching on a branch. It's fluffy pink feathers puffed up at its wing and hint of yellow and white streaked at its head and down to its back. The bird's long neck curved down at a high arc as it looked down, its wide yellow beak open making it look like it was laughing at what it was looking at down below.

"Hey," Kid picked up the book and showed it to Law. "This was the bird that I roasted the other day."

Law leaned forward to take a closer look and his voice caught. An uncanny familiarity set in his brain down to the piercing laughter that played in his brain. It sounded so real that it almost felt like someone was laughing in his ears. He read the brief commentary at the bottom of the picture.

_The Caw Caw bird is a distant relative of the more well-known Flamingo. Unlike its cousin, it travels from South Blue to other seas to lay its eggs, then comes back to live the rest of its life in the South once they have learned how to fly. With its huge size, it is known as a predator and feeds among other birds._

Law took the book from Kid's hands and flipped the page.

"Do you know what type of bird our's is?" he asked changing the subject.

Kid crinkled his nose still trying to ease the pain and scooted over right next to him.

"No. I never thought about it. Isn't it just a bird?"

Law shook his head forcing out a short breath. "It's a Vermilion Flycatcher. Look," he flipped to the page he found days ago.

The younger boy moved his head closer against the teen's shoulder. He read the information briefly but mostly looked at the picture of the similar red feathered ave they had.

"Hey," he suddenly said. "Ever thought about naming it?"

"What?" Law cocked a brow at him.

"The baby bird."

The teen looked at Kid then back at the drowsy nestling sitting on his lap.

"The shipbuilders I work with told me that if you don't give a ship a name, then it would never sail."

"The bird isn't a ship. It's a bird," Law closed the book and laid it on the ground.

"But what if it never flies?"

_Never flies?_ The older teen stared at Kid for a while. Not every bird was given a name by a human and they still all flew. In an everyday occurrence, there were thousands of birds a person saw each day, and most of them nameless. Not naming a bird didn't mean that it wouldn't fly.

"Think about it," the boy continued. "The parent birds always whisper to their babies before they try attempting to fly. Don't you think that they give them a name? That's why humans have names so that when they do something big, everyone knows who they are. You see parents thinking hard for the perfect name when they have a kid and hope that they do something good with their selves one day when they grow up. It's the same for birds. Flying is like the ultimate thing for birds, and having a name means that everyone will know that they've accomplished something."

"Who told you that?" Law furrowed his brows. "Your parents?"

"My friend," Kid shook his head. "I don't have parents."

"Mhn," Law could only nod to that. He shifted his eyes letting the silence fill in until he let out an almost whisper. "I don't have parents either."

As if naturally, the two didn't look at each other only to accept each other's intimate truth. Not like Law was hiding it, but he would have not told anyone otherwise if Kid never confessed to it first. It was a fact that no one else that needed to know, the fact of not having any parents didn't define him in any way, and he didn't care for it. He never met them so there was no reason to miss something he never had, no parents to fuss and worry about giving him a name, though his real parents probably had. No memories to hold his heart close, no happiness, no anger, no hate nor longing was ever given to him to feel about two odd faces he never saw; no two souls ever gave him meaning to be created as one.

Memories of cold snow infiltrated his mind; the remembering of looking up at the azure sky as he stood alone knee deep in a blizzard while a sedated flow of white softness fell softly down to the earth came piercing in his brain. The numbness of his body shook his nerves in fear of death as he thought that he would actually die until a pair of warm arms came wrapping from behind him. The huge, long arms engulfed him completely melting the ice crystals that frosted on his skin and trapped him against a warm wall of heat. It was the kind body of a man he didn't know, pink feathers of a foreign animal coating him.

"Who named you?" Law asked.

Kid still did not look at him. His focus was still elsewhere maybe remembering his own past. It was odd to think that they already had one when they were both still so young.

"My friend did," Kid answered. "He said he found me in a boat with a pirate flag that drifted to shore so he named me after a pirate."

"William Kidd," even he knew the infamous captain.

"Yeah." Kidd looked down to his black painted nails. "I'ma live up to that name one day, you know."

"You're going to become a pirate?"

He turned to grin at Law, his cockiness showing. "Hell yeah. I'm going to leave South Blue one day and find One Piece, then everyone would know the name Eustass Kid. Not William Kidd, _Eustass Kid. My name._ I'm gonna surpass even Whitebeard out there, and then people will be naming kids after me."

Law let out a small laugh. "Are we going to have little babies named after 'Captain' Kid in the future?"

"The one and only captain of the Kid Pirates."

Law couldn't help but grin wider as he could only picture Kid ordering around a bunch of children haphazardly on a ship. "Kid Pirates" - how cute. No matter how childish it sounded though, Law could see the determination. It wasn't a hope or dream the way he meant it. It was a statement and a promise, a future fact that Kid will make come true. Kid picked a blade of grass from the floor and threw it at Law's direction.

"Who named_ you_?" he was looking at the teen now.

Law looked up at the sky, its soft blue shaded lighter with clouds of white. It was funny how the real sky looked fake, while in dreams, it looked real. The presently sunny sky just seemed so unreal.

"I don't know," Law picked up the bird on his lap and leaned to his side laying his head on Kid's shoulder. "My name was already written on my birth certificate. I don't know who chose my name."

Kid sat still and didn't make a sound. His body was a little hunched over, and it was hard for Law to lean on him right. The boy was already shorter than him by half a head and he had to adjust himself lower to get comfortable. Kid would grow taller than him when he gets older, Law was sure. He could tell that Kid was younger than him but he was already almost his height. The genetics was just there.

"Kid," Law chose a name without much contemplation.

"Hm?" the boy turned at the mention of his name.

"Eustass-ya" he pointed to the redhead then to the baby bird. "Kid."

Kid blinked a couple of times before he got it. "You're going to name it after me?!"

"Yeah. I think it suits it."

"No! Name it something else!" Kid growled. "It doesn't even like me!"

"But you guys exude the same melanin. Look," Law put the baby bird close to Kid's hair to prove a point. "You're like its parent already."

The boy shook his head to get the nestling away from him.

"If anyone is a parent, its you. You're the one that's taking care of it at your house, aren't you?"

"But you're the one that asked me to in the first place," he gave a smile. "After _you_ found it."

"We can't have the same name," Kid frowned. "What are you going to call me if you're going to call it 'Kid?'"

"That's why you're Eustass-ya, and this is Kid-ya," he lifted up the nestling for emphasis and the boy let out a grumbling whine.

Law laughed, the feeling he hadn't felt in ages. The rumble coming up his throat felt foreign, the passageway feeling so unused. Even to his own ears, it sounded like he had never heard himself so happy before. A red blush colored the younger boy's cheeks so deep upon hearing him laugh.

"Fine," he gave in. "but the next time we're naming something, it's going to be named Law."

The older teen smiled widely as he brought the Flycatcher to his own face. It might look like he was cooing at the fluffy animal, but he definitely wasn't. Law never cooed, he was just grinning right now.

"You hear that?" he asked and the Flycatcher tilted it's head asking what. "You have a name now. Kid-ya."

* * *

The next day when Law forgot his scarf, Kid came even later. Maybe at around three in the afternoon, he came. As usual, Law was waiting for him under the tree, and even the baby bird Kid chirped when he came rustling out of the bushes. Paler than usual, Kid stumbled to him and dropped to his lap to take a nap. No "hi's" or "hello's," he just fell asleep.

Law looked down at the sleeping boy on his thighs, eyebrows raised. But Kid just looked so tired, and he had gotten a new bruise at the edge of his lip. There was a bit of blood staining his fingers and Law wanted to reach for his hand. Learning from last time at how alert the boy could be though if he woke up from sleep, he refrained from doing so. Law just left it at that and let Kid rest. Perhaps he'd take care of his injuries later. Law picked up his book that he brought along, the correct one this time, and read. But after a few hours of sitting in the same position, he too fell asleep.

They didn't wake up until a chill ran up Law's back making him shiver, and he opened his eyes. It was dark and all he could see were different shades of black. He tilted his head to look up above only to see the moon glow in full radiance. The stars next to it tried to shine as bright, but even in their numbers, they couldn't compare. The teen continued looking up awed. Never in his life had he seen so many stars as he had never been allowed to be out so late. They looked so beautiful, each one twinkling out of sync from each other as if to greet him. A set of arms suddenly tightened around Law's waist and he noticed the warmth that had been on his lap all along. Kid stirred pressing his nose into his belly seeking for his warmth back, and just for a little while, Law decided to let him until he had to inevitably wake him.

He sat there in the moonlight for a good half hour before he looked down at Kid again. He could hardly make out his face, but oddly, Law liked it that way. He lifted his hand to shake the boy by the shoulder. Just before he touched him though, he stopped. The teen's brow twitched not knowing why he couldn't move. A part of him didn't want to go through with it. He didn't want to wake Kid.

He sat there frozen in position inches from touching Kid's skin. His hand shook when he tried to force it to go down and he realized why.

Was it a crime to want to stay like this?

Law took a deep breath and his leg moved by itself to push Kid's head hard enough to wake him.

"Hrmugh?"

He heard Kid's disconcerted moan to know that the trick worked. Well, partly. The boy still held his waist and only hugged tighter. Kid didn't want to let go yet. He wanted to continue sleeping.

"Wake up," Law demanded almost coldly. He didn't want to have to push the boy off of him.

Defiantly and sleepily, Kid didn't move. His only response was another grumble.

"I don't want to."


End file.
